As we begin this brand-new year of 2023, I believe it is important to look back at things we have learned during the past 12 months. I call them “take-aways.” They are the things we have learned through another year of living, experiencing, and growing – or not. They are the things we have learned through our daily experiences (good and bad), in our spiritual journey and times in God’s Word, and things we have learned from others and from our own personal observation. This can result in wisdom, but there are no guarantees since some people do not learn from the past. Wisdom is the application of knowledge and includes insight and understanding. Much can be learned from the past—both our own personal past and ...

Let me share my thoughts on conflict with you. My belief is that “change is wrought in the crucible of conflict.” What do I mean by that? It is my belief that change in a person’s life seldom happens when everything is going well. Most of us live by the logic, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” so if things are going well why change? We change in response to pain: physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual. One of the primary sources of pain is conflict. Conflict causes us to experience physical symptoms such as the increased flow of adrenaline, an accelerated heart rate and rapid breathing, sweaty palms, a flush face, and wider pupils.

Conflict also causes us to experience emotional symptoms. We...

We see this logic play out before us every day. The end justifies the means. In other words, as long as the end goal is achieved it doesn’t matter how we achieve it. This is not only unethical thinking but leads to immoral behavior. One of the clearest examples we see is in politics. As long as my candidate wins the election it doesn’t matter how he or she does it. If we need to cheat so the candidate can win, we cheat. If we need to trash the good name of our opponent to win, we trash away. If we need to lie to win, we lie.

This convoluted thinking is not only seen in politics. We see it all the time in business, in the church, and even in families. In business we may lie, steal, or cheat as long as we make the sale and get ...

Have you ever thought about how our universe displays the glory of God? It does. Think of how the Trinity of God is on display: The universe is a spectacular testament to the Trinity. All the universe is composed of space, time, and matter yet all the universe is space, all the universe is time, and all the universe is matter.  One of the greatest displays of God as a Trinity is human beings. All of us are composed of three parts. We are all physical (body), all psychological (soul), and all spiritual (spirit). There are many more examples which could be cited but suffice it to say, God’s handiwork is seen in all His creation (Psalm 19:1, Ephesians 2:10).

This is no more true than in the temple of the Old Testament. Revelation ...